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Adventure Sixteen: Detour Ahead
Inside the Cusp of Sunrise, Vania begins using the spiral staircases as an impromptu jungle gym, Ruth investigates the bookshelves and judges their shallow aesthetically focused library, P0P1 joins the gambling tables and cheats at a cap-snatching game, Earl fits in by behaving imperiously toward the maître d' and demanding coffee, and Alder bulldozes her way through the crowd using resting bitch face in search of Celeste. *We receive a note from Celeste instructing us to attend the plasma weapons demonstration. It features Laurel and Beswink Lathenmire, dealers in high-value Old World weapons and armor technology, who are wearing pre-war Chinese stealth armor. *Celeste, a well-dressed and unusually clean woman, approaches us and invites us to her private suite on the upper floor. Earl detects an unknown nanotechnology signature on her that is approximately as strong as Alder’s aura. *Celeste introduces us to Vernon Davked, an imposing older man, explaining that she is his majordomo. *Davked says that Mavu has been engaging in suspicious behavior and has screwed us over, citing the deathclaw and his acquisition of plasma weaponry. As Ruth knows, this level of technology did not exist pre-war, and Earl knows that the Enclave has the ability to produce plasma weapons. Davked was previously a Paladin in the Brotherhood of Steel and has experience with the Enclave, knowing that this means Mavu has gotten involved with them. *Davked says that Mavu went north several days ago, but Davked lost track of him when he went to the Eight Ball, a place known for highly unusual occurrences. Celeste has investigated his employees but has been unable to confirm which ones were part of the caravan or if he still has employees with him. *Davked offers to hire us on a scouting mission to the area, with the potential to take half of the resources we find. *The origin of the Eight Ball is unknown, though it’s speculated to be the source of the Scorps scorpion. Stan informs us that it has been stable since the war, and the anomalous monstrosities emerging only began in the past few decades. *In our first day traveling north, Vania notices tracks from a group of super mutants and humans crossing the highway, and we detour westward to pursue them. Ruth flies up to search and finds 6 humans and 4 super mutants standing in a clearing, preternaturally still and staring in the same direction. They are all wearing the same type of helmet. *Celeste notices our detour and asks for an explanation. She claims not to know about nearby super mutant activity or the helmets. *As we return to the highway, we are attacked by a giant armored centipede and three giant moths. *We reach the Eight Ball, which looks like a 1-mile tall dome of complete darkness. We experiment, finding that an object even partially touching it disappears completely, and sound is swallowed up without echo. *Celeste contacts us over the radio and asks if P0P1 is present. Upon confirmation, the radio pulses. The blackness of the dome extends and sweeps across us as Ruth drains the radio. *We find ourselves standing in the same positions but in an incredibly posh room containing a man. He looks at us in resignation, pulls a gun from the desk, and shoots himself in the head.